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Windows App Developer Links - 2012-04-14

Windows 8

"A common thread we've seen in the feedback so far about Windows 8, on this blog or elsewhere, positive or negative, is that people using Windows 8 for the first time might need a little help getting their bearings. ... I hope some of this info can help you use Windows 8 even more quickly and efficiently."

"Visual Studio 11, contains quite a lot of improvements over Visual Studio 2010. With this release we also get to see all of the latest additions to ASP.NET 4.5 and of course the integration with VS11! I've been tinkering with both ASP.NET 4.5 and VS11 quite a bit lately, and I wanted to give a quick list of my top favorite features in the new Visual Studio's Designer interface."

"The Page Inspector found in VS11 brings in some of the most useful features within our favorite modern browser's developer tools. Things like DOM navigation, finding certain elements and modifying the CSS on the fly can now all be done from within Visual Studio. Is this a replacement for the developer tools in the browser? No. However, it provides us with even more tools and information for developing our ASP.NET project before we need to take use of the browser's dev tools."

"Prior to Visual Studio 2010, AnyCPU was the default for most .NET projects... In Visual Studio 2010, x86 (and not AnyCPU) became the default for most .NET projects... In .NET 4.5 and Visual Studio 11 the cheese has been moved. The default for most .NET projects is again AnyCPU, but there is more than one meaning to AnyCPU now."

Metro App Development

"Using JSON data in lieu of XML will make your Metro apps 46% faster! ... Even better, Windows 8 offers full support for JSON! Metro UI controls can be bound to JSON data. Also, common JavaScript functions, such as JSON.parse(), are natively supported. JSON is a first class citizen in Windows 8."

"This is a unique moment in the history of game development. Never before has it been so easy to create a new game, distribute it to 100s of millions of potential users, and get paid. Here is what you need to know to create an entertaining app for the Windows 8 marketplace, including the basics of planning, game design, development, and distribution."

"Windows 8 metro-style apps are a huge new opportunity for all developers. Learn about the core components of the Windows 8 platform specifically provided for metro-style games and how you can assemble them into your ideal game experience. Learn the latest tips and best practices for game graphics, input & animation, sound effects, and asset loading."

"The more polished the game, the larger the revenue opportunity. This talk covers techniques to give your app a professsional appeal using modern features for a fluid experience. Learn how to grow your audience by leveraging capabilities across the entire range of Windows8 PCs, including languages, tools, and APIs for networking and high-performance graphics, in both 2-D and 3D."